Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson, a Black man, was held at the guard house in Holly Hill, South Carolina, and was shot on a roadside after being taken from it in February 1904. The Lancaster Ledger reports that a coroner's jury, after several sessions, found enough evidence to hold town marshal D. A. Hart for further examination before the court of general sessions, and that some suspicion also fell on one or two others but not enough to hold them. The Baptist Courier, citing newspaper reports, said it saw no apparent justification for the killing, that the reports, if credited, described an unprovoked killing, and it called for a legal investigation to find and punish those responsible.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff. A coroner's jury found enough evidence to hold town marshal D. A. Hart for further examination, and the Baptist Courier editorial calls the reported shooting an unprovoked killing with no apparent justification.
Reported by: coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner); Baptist Courier editorial (reporters).